SEC. 67.26. WITHHOLDING KEPT TO A MINIMUM.
§ 67.26
San Francisco must disclose all non-exempt portions of public records, masking only information that qualifies for exemption under state law or other statutes, with clear notes explaining why material was withheld; City staff must do this review work as part of their regular duties at no charge to requesters.
When someone asks the City for a public record, the City can only hide information if a law specifically says it must. For anything that can be released, the City has to release it—not hide the whole document just because part of it is confidential. Any information the City does withhold must be clearly marked to show which law allows the City to keep it secret. City employees must do this work as their regular job, not charge the person asking for the records.
- Complex:The section chains to Section 67.27 for justification requirements and references the California Public Records Act without restating its scope, making full understanding require consultation of external documents.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
No record shall be withheld from disclosure in its entirety unless all information contained in it is exempt from disclosure under express provisions of the California Public Records Act or of some other statute. Information that is exempt from disclosure shall be masked, deleted or otherwise segregated in order that the nonexempt portion of a requested record may be released, and keyed by footnote or other clear reference to the appropriate justification for withholding required by Section 67.27 of this Article. This work shall be done personally by the attorney or other staff member conducting the exemption review. The work of responding to a public-records request and preparing documents for disclosure shall be considered part of the regular work duties of any City employee, and no fee shall be charged to the requester to cover the personnel costs of responding to a records request.
(Added by Ord. 265-93, App. 8/18/93; amended by Proposition G, 11/2/99)